Roth: Guard of Bruma
by AirborneXZ
Summary: When the Battle of Bruma is at its peak of fierceness, and the Hero of Kvatch is gone, only a single guard can save the day. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls. If I did, there wouldve been a Town Guard Questline

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Roth: Guard of Bruma

The cold climate of the Jerall Mountains, would often take a toll on the Southern immigrants to Bruma. Roth, one of the guards, unlike most Nords, did not mind the Imperials of the warm Nibenean South. In fact he was one of the only Nords in the whole guard. Only he and the captain of the Bruma Town Guard were Nords and the rest were Imperial men. Roth thought about it, and he remembered that he was a volunteer unlike the other guards who were drafted Imperials.

Things were quiet in Bruma lately, despite the fact that the lost heir to the throne was found and delivered to Cloud Ruler Temple, the home of the Emperor's bodyguards, The Blades. The heir, Martin, came down into town to visit the church, so he could talk to Countess Carvain, the ruler of Bruma, in privacy. Roth, having his fill of the fresh mountain air, followed his superior officer, Burd, and the Countess down to the church. Inside Roth saw Martin in battle armor and his escort, the Hero of Kvatch, in a brown shirt and brown linens with his sword by his side.

"Countess, what I am about to tell you, may not strike you as brilliant…" said Martin. The Hero of Kvatch stayed silent, and so did Burd, and therefore by example, Roth stayed silent as well, allowing the Countess and Martin Septim to talk.

"What are you proposing Martin?" asked the Countess.

"In order to pursue the villain, Mankar Cameron, into his Paradise, we must obtain one more ingredient, in order to open the portal."

"And this ingredient is?"

"A Great Sigil Stone…and these can only be obtained by closing a Great Gate…so what I am proposing is that we let the forces of Dagon, open up a Great Gate and have the Hero of Kvatch, go inside and close the gate by taking the Great Sigil Stone."

"No! I will not allow my people to be put at risk!"

"Countess, I understand your concern but this is our only chance to obtain the stone and make the portal. If we do not stand now then when, Countess?"

"O-okay… I suppose it is time for Bruma to make its stand. If we do not stop the Daedra of Oblivion then I suppose no one will."

"Thank you, Countess, we go to battle at dawn. The Hero of Kvatch will rally the men."

Martin and the Hero of Kvatch left the church and the Countess with Burd soon followed. Roth stayed behind and looked at the stained glass windows of all the nine gods. He then kneeled at the altar and began to pray. When he left the church, he started to feel the cool of the northern air and walked to the castle for it was late in the night. As he walked up the stairs into the castle grounds, he saw the soldiers from all the other towns. They had gathered to fight for the future of Cyrodiil and Roth was glad to stand among them. He went to the barracks, changed out of his uniform, and laid down to sleep.

The dawn broke and the men were nervous. Roth got out of his sleeping clothes and into his uniform. He put on his chain mail and it rattled as he put it on. Then came his uniform then his boots and gauntlets. He grabbed his silver claymore that was a gift from his father. He took a deep breath and exited the castle to find all the soldiers procuring arrows, swords and shields.

After some preparation, Martin in full battle armor had come and said that it was time. Roth got into the single file line. He was with 20 men from different counties that he had never been to. He had never known these men before now, and yet, he was glad he was fighting beside them during Cyrodiil's finest hour. They walked from the castle to the Southern gate of Bruma, and Roth heard cheers from the townspeople. He might as well be dead, for he had never faced a daedroth before. They were fearsome creatures. Some modeled after the elements, some modeled after humans, some after reptiles, but all were fierce and dangerous. The nightmare of every mortal man.

They walked across the road and finally reached the place of battle. Martin then walked in front of the group and started to look into the sky. All the men could tell that he was nervous. Roth looked to his left to see the Hero of Kvatch. Before Roth had suited up back in Bruma, he had been visited by the Hero of Kvatch. He had told Roth that to always stare down the forces of evil, for the daedra of Oblivion fed on fear, and if you showed none then they were powerless, for there is something that mortal men have over the daedra. That something was a soul. The most powerful entity that could summon the power of the gods if used correctly.

"Men, today is the time that we fight. This is Tamriel's finest hour! If we do not win here then all we have ever worked for will be for nothing! The daedra will enslave our people and the world will be lost. Tamriel will be gone. There will be a time, when the strength of men fails, when corruption swallows us in its dark hole, but it is not this day! For today, we fight! Men of Cyrodiil, my friends, my brothers, we go to ruin and to the end of the world!"

As soon as Martin finished his speech, the sky turned black and thunder shook the ground. A Gate to Oblivion was opening, and it stroke fear into the hearts of each and every one of those 20 soldiers. With the exception of the Hero of Kvatch, for he had stared down death more than once. The daedra poured out of the gate, and it was time for battle. "CHARGE!!!!" yelled Martin.

The battle ensued! The two factions clashed in the middle of the battlefield. Arrows were flying from the archers and the daedra were blasting fire. The snow had red spots. There were so many daedra and not enough men. Roth used his father's blade and slew at least 10 of the beasts. But he was no Hero of Kvatch and he was losing strength quickly. The second gate had opened and more daedra had come. The forces of Cyrodiil had already lost 3 men and at least 4 more were wounded. The third gate had opened and reptilian creatures were pouring out.

It truly was the finest hour of all mortal beings. Finally, the Great Gate had opened and the blood-stained face of the Hero of Kvatch shown with the look of hope. He charged in and Roth and the forces of good were alone with no hero to help them. Pretty soon the forces of good were starting to prevail, for the forces of Oblivion were tiring. That was, until the most monstrous daedra came. It was a huge Storm Atronach, three stories high. Its power was immense. It used the power of the storms to electrify the soldiers and crash lightning down onto the battlefield, further lowering the morale of the forces of good. A Daedric arrow had missed Roth and hit Martin. He had fallen and it seemed as if all hope was now lost.

Roth hurried to his side and picked up his head and stared at the bloodied face of the future emperor he was now holding in his arms. Roth looked to see the giant Storm Atronach and all the Daedric forces of Oblivion. It was at that moment that Roth understood what the Hero of Kvatch had told him, and it seemed as if he was staring down each and every one of those Daedric abominations. Roth rose and summoned all the strength contained in his soul and when the Storm Atronach attempted to destroy the powerful Roth, he simply absorbed the electricity. He gathered all of his power and the power of every man around him and sent a burst of electricity that not even the giant could handle the power. All of the Daedra were vaporized and Roth fell to his knees exhausted.

However, the Daedra were still coming out of the Oblivion Gates and Roth could see the Daedric Siege Engine coming out of the Great Gate. Roth closed his eyes and prayed. He crawled to Martin and drew his sword to protect the future emperor.

"This is the end, noble guard of Bruma. We tried and we failed." said Martin bleakly.

"No! It is not the end! You will live this day, Martin Septim. You will live this day!" said Roth.

The Daedra were about to rush Martin and Roth. But, Roth had summoned the last of his power and gave one last electrical blast… when all the Oblivion Gates burst into flames. The daedra were vaporized and standing where the Great Gate once stood was the Hero of Kvatch. Roth had then blacked out.

When he came to, Roth was in a bed with bandages over his wounds. Standing over his bed was the Hero of Kvatch. All the hero said was "Thank you. Guard of Bruma."


End file.
